The Darkness Covers the Red
by Saranwyn
Summary: A new girl Enforcer joins Unit 1 and throws everyone off kilter. While they all struggle with their personal goals and fulfillment, the members of the team must adapt to the addition of a new member with a shadowy past who seems set on turning their lives upside-down. Sorry for the sucky summary and title. :) Slight AU, does not follow anime or manga. T for violence and romance
1. Chapter 1

Hey, slightly AU - all the characters from the first 2 episodes are as they were in the beginning of the show (except Akane has been on the team longer) and I am kind of diverging from there. I saw this show and I just liked the concept and the world and all, but this is not going to follow the anime series pretty much at all. Anyways, please read and review! Thanks! :)

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_She lifted the gun and shot. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_ _Even after his body fell she continued to shoot. She pulled the trigger over and over and over, even when the gun was empty and there was only the soft "click" of the empty chamber. Click. Click. Click. Click. At last, the gun fell from her hands, clattered loud on the floor. She staggered to her feet, blood smearing across the floor as she moved to the corner, where she collapsed in a huddled mass, again. Her crimson hands came up to cover her face as her knees pulled in until they touched her chin. The darkness covered the blood in the room, but it couldn't hide the stench. She choked on her own tears as they spilled down her cheeks and as broken sobs tore from her raw throat. She didn't hear the wail of the sirens as the Enforcers came. She didn't hear the tramp of boots or the order to put her hands in the air and get face-down on the floor. She didn't hear her own sobbing or heavy breaths. All she could hear was the echoing "bang, bang, bang" of the gun._

The van pulled to a stop and she broke from her reverie. She glanced around at the others in the van with her. At eighteen, she was the youngest member of the group. _Keep it together,_ she told herself. _Make a good impression and you'll never have to go back. _

"You're new at this," the eldest of the group, Masaoka, told her, "so you probably can just sit back and watch most of it." She stood up as the van doors opened. Fresh air filled her lungs. The neon lights of the city were almost blinding as she walked out into them. Immediately, her gaze turned upwards to the pitch black of the sky. A soft breath escaped her lips. How long had it been since she'd seen a sight like this?

"Hey," a voice behind her startled her. Possible the second-youngest of the group, Kagari Shusei, approached her. "You just come out of isolation?"

"Is it that obvious?" she asked with a wry smile. He combed his fingers through his spikey, red hair.

"Ah, you have the look to you – I did the same thing, my first night out." She glanced over at him and then nodded wordlessly.

"Alright everyone," a man said, coming to meet them. "We have a latent criminal holed up in that office building – they say he's got a hostage, so let's try to handle this without getting an innocent killed. You'll be given standard-issue Dominators, so try not to shoot each other, okay?" The newest member of the group frowned.

"We'll be given what, now?" the young woman asked. Silence.

"Dominators…ah, I hate newbies. Dominators are the guns you'll be using. They only fire when someone's Psycho-pass is above the accepted level. Unless they hit 160, it will only fire a paralyzing shot. Above 160 it shoots to kill. It can only be fired by an Enforcer like you or an Inspector like, me, so don't worry if someone else manages to grab your gun – though we'd prefer it we don't let that happen. Masaoka, Kagomi, you take the newbie with you and follow Inspector Tsunemori. I'll take Kagari and Kunizuka."

"That's Inspector Ginoza," Masaoka informed the new Enforcer as they grabbed their guns. "Just do what he says, and you won't get shot."

"Yeah, they told me – never disobey an Inspector," she replied. "My name is Nakamura Reiko, by the way."

"Enforcer Nakamura. It's a pleasure. Masaoka. The surly, quiet fellow over there is Kagomi, and our cute, young Inspector is Tsunemori Akane."

"Thanks."

"Don't mind Inspector Ginoza, he's just trying to be tough for the new girl. We got one rule here, we don't ask about why our PP's are so high. If you want to talk about it, no one's about to stop you, but you're not obligated to, and you can't force anyone else to – got it?"

"Yeah." They headed into the building's south entrance, falling silent. Quiet except the muted wail of the sirens and her own heavy breathing in her ears. Quiet. Quiet. In her head…_ Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! click, click, click._ A hand came down on her shoulder.

"Hey," Masaoka whispered. "You okay? You went all wide-eyed and still…"

"I-I'm okay. Let's go." They followed after Kagomi and the Inspector, jogging to catch up. She took a deep breath, forcing her mind away from those dark corners it liked to wander. Suddenly, she heard a whimpering sound down the hall. Tapping Masaoka's shoulder she headed towards it, lifting her gun. The others quickly caught up and overtook her as she slowed down. Whimpering and heavy breathing. She couldn't hear it anymore. She couldn't hear the sirens. She could only hear crickets and the drip, drip, drip of red blood. _BANG!_ She drew her attention back to the hallway, back to the apartment building, back to the unconscious man slumped at the end of the hall and the young boy, tied up, sitting beside him. Masaoka still had his gun out, aimed at the body as if he were about to get back up, as Akane ran to untie the boy.

"Is he alive?" Reiko asked.

"Yeah, it wasn't lethal damage."

"How many times did you shoot him?" Masaoka frowned.

"Once – how many times should I have?"

"Once was good, I just…I wanted to know how far I'd spaced out."

"Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I just…it's just a lot, being out and about, again after so…so long in the empty white. You know, if you're not already crazy, those isolation centers are enough to do the job.

"Yeah, Shusei said the same thing." Now the others came and dragged the man off. The Enforcers returned to their van and got in. The doors slammed shut and they drove off. "We're heading back to the office, now. It's not such a bad place. I mean, you get 3 square meals a day, a place to sleep, and basically anything you ask for, as long as it isn't a weapon," Masaoka told her, patting her arm.

"Well, I guess a luxurious prison is better than the one I **was** living in," she replied.

"How was it for your first mission?" Shusei asked.

"I didn't have to do anything, so it was fine, I guess," she replied. They were taken to a large office building, up to the top floor. Once they were there, Masaoka showed her a room with a bed. "You get to sleep here. here's your new wardrobe, too." He handed her a small round box, much like those compact-mirrors from the old days. She flipped it open and flicked through the options. Chuckling softly, she set it down.

"Thanks, I think I just…I'm going to acquaint myself with my room, now." Masaoka walked off, shutting the door behind him.

"Shusei!" he called. "Kagari!" The redhead looked up from where he'd already collapsed onto the couch with a videogame. "Put that thing away a moment."

"What is it?" the Enforcer asked.

"It's Nakamura."

"The newbie? What about her?"

"Well…you're the only one that's been in the isolation center before. She looks like she might…I don't know, need help adapting or something? True she's **with** other people, now, but I don't think she really…I mean, it's not like she's actually with us…"

"Well, depending on how long she's been in there, she might just have forgotten how to interact with other people."

"Which is why she needs **your** help. You can understand what she's going through…go talk to her. She needs a friend." Shusei stood, sighing.

"Alright, alright." The redhead walked off to the newbie's room. He heard muttering inside and frowned, listening.

"The dark covers up the blood, but it can't hide the smell. They shine white on the blood, and it's red. The dark covers up-" He knocked on the door. Silence. He knocked again. "C-come in." She was sitting on her bed, huddled up and shaking.

"Hey…you okay?"

"T-too dark," she whispered. He nodded.

"Lights," he instructed, and the lights turned on. "Dim." They dimmed a little. "Better?" he asked. He remembered how weird it had been, after spending so long in that white cell, how hard it had been to adjust to anything else. Slowly, he walked over and sat next to her.

"They say I can talk to people now, but I still can't," she muttered, more to herself than to him. _Whatever she's got going, it's not your normal brand of crazy,_ he thought, laying a hand on her shoulder. _The Isolation Center didn't do this to me._ "I don't know how to talk…all I can do is scream and wait for the bleeding to end. I have to wait for the dark to cover up the blood so that when they shine the white on it, it can be red."

"Hey. Hey, hey, hey…shhhh…" he murmured soothingly. "There's no blood. No screaming, okay?" She looked up at him as if realizing he was there for the first time. With a yelp of surprise and shock, she scrambled back.

"No, don't touch me. I-I'll make you red. The red comes gushing out but the dark is hiding it, so you can't see. You have to hear it though. You can hear it if you're quiet."

"Nakamura, I-"

"Shhh! Can you hear it? I hear it in my sleep. They tell me to sleep, but I can't, so they put a needle in me and the white goes away. They don't know that the darkness is covering up the blood. They shined the white on it, but they can't see the red. But I see the red."

"Reiko!" She stopped talking. "Look at me. You're not there anymore. Whatever happened to you…whatever anyone did to you…it's over now, right?"

"But the red-"

"The red is gone. It's gone. Look. See? No red…" She swallowed hard. "I know it's hard, and I know you were working really hard to hold it together in front of everyone else…I know, okay? But you've got to believe me. You have to get past all that."

"Why did they shine the white on you? Didn't they?"

"Yeah, I was in the Isolation Center, too. My PP read high…when I was five. They said there was no hope of rehabilitation, so they just locked me in there. D-do you want to tell me why they put you away?"

"The gun went bang over and over and over until it lost its voice and it could only go click. The red came out of him and got swallowed by the darkness, but I could smell it, still, and I could hear it. Then they came, but they had no voices. They shined the white on me, and I was covered in red, so they locked me up in there with the red." A tear rolled down her cheek. Shusei exhaled softly and pulled her into a gentle embrace.

"Shhh…it's all over, now. It's okay." _So clearly someone got shot, but who? And did __**she**__ shoot him or someone else? That kind of violent trauma could definitely explain her mental state, but why did they let her out, then? I mean, they'd never let someone legitimately insane out, would they? It took all my persuasive skills to land me this job, she doesn't look like she could talk straight long enough to convince them to trust her. Then again, before this, she seemed pretty normal. A little estranged, but normal nonetheless._ "You want to tell me who got shot?"

"I thought I knew him, but that day he was different. It was like he was all twisted in his face. He came into the house, and I went to greet him, but then I saw him and he was a stranger."

"…Okay." _That made…no sense._ "Who shot him?"

"The gun. The gun went bang. I-it wasn't my fault, I swear! M-mommy and Daddy will be angry when they wake up, but it wasn't my fault!" _So this must have happened when she was young, for her to be regressing, like this – calling her parents "Mommy and Daddy."_

"Shhhhh….shhh…it's okay. No one's blaming you of anything." She was trembling in his arms, crying into his chest. _Come on, Masaoka – why did you leave this to __**me**__! I don't know what to do with this wreck!_ She sat there and cried for a good, long while until she was all cried out. Then she sat up, wiping her tears away.

"Blood like tears leaking down out of him. He fell, and I knew him." _This is utter nonsense. She needs psychological help, but…but if I say or report anything, they'll send her back. I can't…I can't do that to her._

"How long were you in isolation?"

"Thirteen years they say. Maybe they're lying, though. I wouldn't know. It was all just white…timeless. Now I'm outside and the wind rubs my skin raw and the light hurts my eyes, and the dark makes it hard to see, and I remember…I remember how to be a person again, only I won't get the chance, because the red will come for me. I c-can't survive out here."

"I know…it's frightening. Trust me, I went through this myself. It was terrifying. I jumped at every, little sound and movement. But look, I'm okay, see? This world…it's not so bad, right?" She nodded. "Remember looking at the sky? Remember how that felt." She nodded, again. "Do you want to look out the window?" He stood up and took her hand, gently urging her to get out of bed and walk to the window. "Shades," he commanded, and the window turned from black to transparent so they could look out. "See…you can see the stars. It's not so bad, right? This is what you want, right?"

"Y-yes. I told myself…I had to hold it together…or they'd send me back. But I'm coming to pieces. I feel like I'm going to dissolve, and all that's left will be red on the floor."

"That's not going to happen. It's okay, now. You just can't be talking like you were back then, when we're around them, okay? If we're around the Inspectors or other folks, you have to keep that kind of chatter to yourself. Can you do that?"

"So they won't send me back."

"Exactly." She nodded, but he wasn't convinced. If she was legitimately crazy, which she definitely seemed to be, there was no saying she could keep it together around other people. The fact that she'd seemed completely lucid earlier during the mission didn't prove she had any control over how sane she acted. _I guess I'm stuck keeping an eye on her, then,_ he decided. _Still, if she starts going on like that, just what am I supposed to do?_ They stood in silence for a long time then she turned to him.

"Th-thank you. I'm sorry for…Well, I…"

"It's fine. Are you okay, now?"

"Yes, thank you. I…I'm sorry for the inconvenience."

"How did you get out of there?"

"I'd say it was luck…I just happened to be lucid on the interview day. They're undermanned, and I haven't done anything violent in…a long time, so I guess they just took what they could get." _It's weird, she seems so…normal, but not more than five minutes ago, she was babbling like a moon-brained idiot…_Shusei mused. _It's a little unnerving._

"What happened to you?" the question slipped out, and he immediately regretted it. Not only was that prying into something very personal, but it was also possible it could send her into another babbling fit. "I mean…you don't have to…tell me, but…if you wanted…to talk about it…" She smiled weakly.

"Maybe later."

"Okay. I get it. Not everyone has happy stories like mine around here."

"You were put in when you were five…to the Isolation Center?"

"Yeah."

"Had you…done anything?"

"Nope. My scanner just read too high and bang…you don't have to do anything these days, you know? They'll take anyone showing even a little aggression."

"I'm sorry. That…couldn't have been easy."

"Well, if anyone can understand, I guess it'd be you, right? You said you were in there thirteen years?"

"Yeah, they put me in there when I was six. I mean…I guess…I can't really blame them. I probably would've done the same to me, if I were them."

"Of course you can blame them, idiot! Who locks up anyone – much less a kid – in that kind of place? If anything tampered with your mental stability, that was it, not whatever happened! I don't care how crazy or traumatic it was, you shouldn't have been shoved in there. You should've been treated with love and caring and consideration. The Isolation Center is where they put everyone they don't know how to deal with, so they can pretend we don't exist. But we **do** exist, and if we – the victims – can't stand up for ourselves, who else can we expect to stand up for us?" She blinked.

"I-I guess. But maybe…maybe some people are beyond helping."

"No. I refuse to accept that. And even if that's true – **even** if that's true! – I can**not** condone just locking them up in some room by themselves! It's inhumane! And to do that to a child…" Reiko smiled sadly.

"Thanks…you're the first one…that's ever thought I was worth the time." Shusei shrugged and looked away.

"Ah, the rest of the world is just screwed up. You know what I blame? That Sybil System. It screws everyone up. Makes people think they can just categorize us and dehumanize us…it's immoral. Trying to take people apart and understand them like they're just machines…it makes us worse than animals. We claim to be civilized, but…if this is civilization…man, the world is better off without it."

"Maybe you're right. I never…I never thought about it much. Until so…so recently, they had me convinced…that it was better for everyone, better for myself, if I stayed locked up."

"What changed your mind?"

"The person in the room across from me…there was some sort of technological failure or something, and I caught a glimpse of him and he was…he was so old, just sitting in his cell, waiting to die. And I thought…I can't die like that. I decided that I didn't care if it was better for the world or not, I would not – could not – just let myself disappear, like that man. He was…he was nothing. Even if they kept him fed and healthy he wasn't a **person**; he was…he was already dead, just a corpse…waiting to be buried. God, it scared me so badly I decided right then and there…I was getting out…no matter what it took."

"So you applied to be an Enforcer?"

"I don't see it as I had another choice. I had no means of escaping any other way – I'd seen enough people try and fail, so I applied for the position. I was rejected, but I kept applying. For a year a kept it up, every chance I got…and then one day they tell me I have an interview and I was accepted. They gave me a new set of clothes and took me to the van, and…you know the rest."

"Well…congrats on getting out." He patted her arm and turned to leave. "Try to get some rest, you look tired, and if you need anything, let me know."

"I will, thanks." The door shut behind him and she exhaled deeply, closing her eyes. She slumped against the wall, unable to hear her own breathing or slide of fabric against the wallpaper – only one sound filled her ears and echoed in her mind. _Bang!_


	2. Chapter 2

Reiko combed back her long, blond hair and twisted it up into a bun. Her own reflection in the mirror stared back at her. Thirteen years without a mirror made this one feel kind of creepy. It was strange, seeing her own face. It didn't look like she imagined. Flipping open her wardrobe, she selected an outfit, black pants, a dark red shirt, and a black jacket. Combat-style boots appeared on her feet. Red. Her eyes riveted to it. The darkness covered the red…No. She switched her shirt to blue. Better. There was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Shusei poked his head in.

"Hey there, good-looking. Time for you shift." She turned to face him with a small smile.

"I know." She walked over to him. "How do I look?"

"I just called you good-looking…"

"You call everyone that."

"The outfit's fine. You look like you slept okay, tonight." She walked past him and down the hall towards the office. Masaoka was already there. He grinned and waved as she came in.

"Good morning, Reiko. Did you sleep okay?"

"Yes, I did." she replied in her best sane-person voice. "How did you sleep?"

"I slept alright, thanks." She sat down at her desk and opened her computer. Wetting her lips and looking around, she opened a word document and stared at it for a long, long moment. The blank white of the page seared her eyes – burned into her mind. That moment burned in her head. It needed out. Her fingers trembled as she laid them on the keys and began to type.

"She lifted the gun, closed her eyes, and shot. BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! Even after his body fell, she continued to shoot..."

"Whatcha writing?" She minimized the window and glared at Masaoka. "Oh…sorry to interrupt, I didn't realize it was personal."

"Deeply," she replied tartly. He backed off.

"Sorry."

"It's okay just…don't read my files." That was one thing about living with all these people, now. Her sense of privacy was completely invaded, constantly. She'd never thought much about it, in Isolation – she'd even wished that someone would be stuck with her to ask her invasive questions and pry into her life, but now that her secrecy was actually threatened, she found herself paranoid that someone would see her for who she was – an insane freak with a Psycho-Pass reading almost off the charts.

"I won't…are you okay? You look…shaken."

"I'm fine." She opened up her file and continued to type.

"She pulled the trigger over and over and over, even when the gun was empty and there was only the soft "click" of the empty chamber. Click. Click. Click. Click." Painstakingly, she wrote out every detail of the night that she could remember. Every moment burned into the screen, every sound, every shadow, every flash of light from the muzzle of the gun. She recounted everything she could remember over and over until the memory was able to recede into the back of her mind, and she closed the word document. No sooner had she finished when Kagomi came in.

"Okay, everyone, let's go. Inspector Tsunemori wants to see us. We have a latent criminal to catch," he announced. "Masaoka, Nakamura, with me, the others will stay here in case we are needed elsewhere." Reiko stood and followed Kagomi and Masaoka to the elevator and down to the ground level, where they got out and went to the van.

"So, who are we catching?" Masaoka asked.

"Mariko Ayatomi is a young woman who worked in the treasury department. She was a promising young girl. Today, one of the detectors read her too high. She's currently at a 100 Psycho-Pass level. She was seen with a knife, so she is considered to be armed and dangerous, capable of violent action. Dominators will be set to non-lethal for now. We'll all go as one group, as we only have one Inspector with us, for now. She's in the bank building with at least five civilians in the building with her," Kagomi informed them as they sat in the dark of the truck. Reiko closed her eyes, inhaling the scent of death. Her hands came up to cover her ears, trying to block out the sound of the gun.

"Rieko?" Masaoka's hand came down on her shoulder. She jumped. "We're here." The doors opened and she stood.

"Right. Let's do this, then," Kagomi sighed. Inspector Tsunemori was waiting for them. She waved, grinning at them.

"Hello, everybody. Welcome back to the real world!" she greeted them. "How've you all been?"

"You saw us at the office, like…yesterday," Kagomi pointed out blandly.

"So?" He rolled his eyes.

"Come on, everyone," Masaoka cut in, starting towards the building. "The longer we wait, the more danger those people are in, so let's get moving." They all went inside. The building was eerily quiet for a Thursday morning at the bank. Masaoka looked around.

"She's somehow managed to shut down the detectors, so we don't know where she is, right now," Akane whispered.

"Top floor," Masaoka suggested.

"Why?" Akane asked.

"If I were her, I'd go to the top floor," Kagomi agreed. "No doubt she's terrified and knows we're coming in on the ground level. She's not thinking straight. She just wants to get as far away from us as possible." Reiko followed them up the stairs, listening to her own, heavy breathing. She tried to focus on them, their footsteps, their crouched forms in the darkness. It looked like night – the shades had been put on full opacity, and only the dim glow of the emergency lights were on, as Mariko had somehow managed to shut off all the power to the building. When they got to the top floor, Akane stopped them.

"Okay, let's split up, everyone take a room, we'll cover the halls that way. Reiko, you go there at the end of the hall, Kagomi, you're in the room next to her, Masaoka, you're across from her and I'll be next to you, okay?" the Inspector whispered. Reiko went to her assigned door and waited for the signal. "One, two…three." She stepped in.

"Don't move!" a voice cried. She could see the girl's form, cloaked in darkness. She had a gun out, pointed straight at her. Reiko already had her Dominator out and aimed at the girl. "I'll shoot you!" she screamed. Reiko stared at her. She knew she could pull the trigger faster than her target would react.

"Target's Psycho-Pass level updated to 160 – Dominator set on lethal," the Dominator told her. She barely heard it. The girl – she was hardly old enough to be called a woman – was clearly terrified. Her hair – blond and shoulder length – was a mess, her crystal blue eyes wide with terror.

"I said I'll shoot!" she warned. Reiko didn't hear her voice. All she could hear was her rapid breathing. _BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!_ BANG! Pain splintered through her shoulder and she dropped her Dominator. She heard the sound of another Dominator going off and she fell against someone, reeling in shock and agony. The target's lifeless body lay on the floor. She couldn't get her eyes off it. Blond hair strewn in the dark, soulless blue eyes gaping. Reiko slumped to the floor.

"Reiko…! Reiko!" She became aware that someone was calling her name and shaking her. There were lights all around her – a hospital. She looked down at her right shoulder. Red on white bandage. The darkness had covered the red, but now the white was shining on it, and the red could no longer hide.

"No," she groaned, reaching to claw away the stained cloth. "No!"

"Reiko, stay still!" Masaoka cried, trying to pin her arm back down.

"No! Th-The d-darkness-!" Masaoka was yanked away from her and Shusei's face came into view. He grabbed her hand gently, not seeming to mind the blood that was now smeared across both their fingers.

"Reiko," he murmured softly. "Reiko, it's okay."

"No…th-the darkness covers the red, but…"

"I know. Shhhhhh, remember? Remember what we said?"

"They shine the white on the blood, and it's red." He cast a nervous glance at the others in the room. "The darkne-mph!" His mouth came crashing down on hers. After a long moment, he drew away a hair's breadth.

"Don't talk," he hissed. "You'll get yourself locked away in the crazy bin – is that what you want?" She blinked and shook her head. "Then don't…say…a word. Don't move, don't do anything, and just let them fix you up, okay? You've already got enough to answer for – freezing up like that."

"Shusei, I-!"

"Don't…talk." He drew away, wiping his mouth. She stared after him as he turned away. He looked so angry. She closed her eyes so she couldn't see the red. Maybe if she ignored it long enough, it would go away. Hands came to her shoulder, fixing the bandage. There was a slight pain in her arm and then she dropped into unconsciousness…

_ The darkness covers the red, but it can't hide the smell. They shine the white on the blood and it is red. The darkness that surrounded her covered an ocean of blood. If they shined the white on it, they could see…_She stumbled out of the darkness and into the light to find Shusei waiting for her. He didn't look angry, anymore. She looked away.

"Hey," he muttered. "Feeling any better?" She shook her head. "They put you to sleep. Did you nightmare?" A nod confirmed his suspicion. "What are you going to tell them? Do you have an excuse for hesitating? You should have shot her on sight."

"She had a gun pointed at me."

"Everyone knows it was your shot – you hesitated."

"She was going to shoot me."

"That's what you're saying then?"

"I thought it was safest to stall her until one of the others came. I thought maybe then she would be caught off guard and we could take her down."

"…Passable, I guess." Silence spanned between them. "Why did you hesitate?"

"I…I saw me."

"What?"

"That woman…"

"Looked nothing like you. She had black hair, green eyes; she was tall and…what are you talking about?" Reiko blinked.

"Black hair? N-no…no it was blond. Blond hair…blue eyes, staring for eternity…unable to see." She shook her head. "She was scared so she shot the gun."

"Reiko…that woman…she didn't have blond hair or blue eyes. And more importantly…that woman was not you." He took her hand. "And either way, you've got to look out for yourself. You do what they tell you to, or they lock you back up in Isolation. Do you want that?"

"N-no."

"Okay, so next time, you don't hesitate, okay?" Next time, you just point and shoot, okay? The Dominator does all the work for you."

"I couldn't hear anything…just her breathing. Shusei, her breathing was like mine."

"Stop. Listen to me, Reiko. You can't do this. If something like this happens again, you have to ignore it. You've got to at least pretend-!" he stopped short. "You've got to try…to conquer this."

"That's not what you meant. What were you about to say. I've got to at least pretend what?"

"N-nothing."

"Say it! I've got to pretend that I'm sane, because I'm **not**!" He clamped a hand over her mouth, eyes darting around anxiously.

"Don't shout it like that, idiot!" he snapped. She pulled his hand away.

"M-maybe I belong…in the white…"

"Shut up! No one belongs there, and you sure as Hell aren't going back while **I** have any say in the matter! If anyone messed you up, it's them for sticking you in that place." She sighed and looked away. "Reiko…" the gentle tone she was used to from him was back. "Look…I just…I don't want to see you go back. That place is a nightmare. I know first hand. You don't belong there."

"But I-I'm broken, Shusei. Look at me – listen to me. I-I'm doing more harm than good. Next time I have a breakdown, it could cost somebody their life."

"So what? That's…that's no reason for you to be locked up in solitary. We just…we need to get you help. Real help. You know, maybe we can find…I don't know a real psychologist or something. Someone who can really do something, instead of just shoving you in a corner to rot."

"Everyone's part of Sybil, now, Shusei. The system does everything for us. Even if someone **could** help me, how would we do it in secret and there's no saying the system wouldn't catch us and lock us all away. You got out of there, and i-it's going to be **my** fault if you go back."

"No it's not. Because we're not going back – ever. And if they ever catch me, that's on me, not you. Okay? I made these choices by myself. You have no responsibility in what happens to me. Watch me. I'll find you someone who can help. They screwed up your mind, and I'm not going to just sit and watch. There's got to be someone out there that can help you."

"The only people trained for that kind of thing are rehabilitation officers, and the system already declared me unable to be rehabilitated. They would just lock me away."

"There's got to be someone else. Someone who's followed the old ways. I mean, they have to exist, somewhere."

"Why? Why do they have to exist? Shusei, there's no one like that, anymore. The system has taken away our ability to help ourselves. Sybil has made us dependent on her, and anyone who doesn't fit…she just hides us."

"Well, we're done hiding, Reiko. We're going to fight back. You'll see." She swallowed hard and nodded, tears rising in her eyes.

"Thank you…Shusei."

"H-huh? Don't cry, idiot."

"You know, I can't…I can't even trust myself, anymore. My own eyes lied to me, my mind won't do what I want it to…my own body is betraying me. It's nice to know…that I can trust you." He smiled slightly.

"You can always trust me, Reiko. Always. Now, it's time for my shift, so…I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Later." The redhead walked off, hands in his pockets. Reiko stared after him, tears spilling down her cheeks. _Fighting back, huh? How, Shusei? They hold all the cards._

* * *

Sorry for the wait on the update, my life has been kind of crazy! Anyways please review. I love feedback, even if it's critique! :)


	3. Authors Note

I'm putting this story on indefinite hiatus, because I don't really have time to keep it up, and I have other stories I want to work on. Thanks for reading/reviewing! :)


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